After my little pre-Valentine Day post about the love we sometimes get at lunch in our high schools, I thought a little "Fun with Numbers" might lighten the levity a bit.... Well, OK, maybe it's just numbers...
21: The number of ill timed traffic lights I have to go through on my 5 mile trip to work in the morning. None of them seem to know what the other light is doing and I wonder why the light at Nebraska and University changes for no reason? Thank God these are state of the art traffic lights with cameras. No wonder every other car has a burnt out brake light. (Just look sometimes, I'm not kidding)
0: Yep, that's ZERO. The number of swear words heard by teacher and currently running for President of the Teacher's Union, Mr. Jeff Adkins-Dutro at the Proctor Center's Talent Show held at Trewyn Middle School. He's not doubting my previous post on language and threats used in high schools, he's heard them too, but he is simply pointing out (I think) how wonderful some events can be on the south side. Slap on a hairnet and some whites, then maybe you'll hear some glorious words? Works else where.
0: ZERO again because zero is so useful? No it is the number of times Diane Vespa has agreed with Jim Stowell (and he is the best member of the Board) or the number of times I have seen her at Manual, Peoria High, or Woodruff after school or during lunch periods. (But hey, it's just me, I don't see everything) but Zero is also the number of times I'll bet she worried about paying a CILCO bill, or Water bill, or even wondering how she was going to pay the book fees for her kids. Zero can be demanding.
5: The number of posts (comments) I have made on Peoria Pundit that have disappeared and not posted. Of course I don't advertise there nor rarely hit the Pay-Pal button (I did once) on that site and I have been assured by Billy that they fell into the spam filter. Still, 5 of them are missing. I'm not worried though, they did this same thing in Russia at one time and it happens in China all the time. I just hope I don't go missing.
3: Number of emails I have sent Billy asking what has happened or if I am banned from his site. I noticed that some commenter's there never have a problem posting or even writing their opinions as a post and getting it published. BTW, Schock is a puppet, get over it. He hasn't had an original idea....ever!
8: Number of parents that show for meetings, worked concessions at games and were truly involved while I was in the Manual Boosters at Manual High school out of (then) over 800 students. We all worked hard for the kids and bought the school some nice things with the money raised, but were disappointed in the turn out of concerned parents until...
120: Number of concerned parents that wanted to join the Booster Club after they found out we got first take on tickets to March Madness to sell to Booster members only during MHS's 3-peat State Championship run. Funny, academics barely gets the kids to school, but basketball gets their parents to show.
1: The number of people who took me up on my invite to lunch at the Chateau La Bomb (French for un-named high school cafeteria) to witness what I call the DMZ. (I'm kidding, about the food, it is quite good actually, but it is just like a DMZ and for those of you that don't know what a DMZ is, Google it.) They just better have some fuckin pizza!
And last but certainly not least, a number all of us should be proud of:
35: I'll spell it out for those of you that might think it's a typo; thirty-five, that's the number of pregnant girls currently attending Woodruff High School right now. Think something is wrong here or is this simply a culture thing we (or I) don't understand?
Bet ya didn't expect that for number 35, did ya? Sadly, I suppose some of you may think that is an improvement. Kids having kids.
27 comments:
Where did you get the 35 number? There are, what, a thousand kids at Woodruff? Say 500 of them are female...that means 7% of all the females at Woodruff High are currently pregnant?
The spam filter at Peoria Pundit is all screwed up. I actually have to go in and approve my own comments or wait for Billy to do so which he doesn't always do. I don't see any comments in the cue for you. How long ago did you post one that was not published?
Only 35? To be honest, I'd have thought the number was higher. Sad.
My post pointing out that I had a post waiting for "moderation" got posted, but not the original one pointing out that there is another "locally owned newspaper" in Peoria. The Traveler, locally owned by an African-American family, is still being published.
WTF? She moderates an online forum AND Peoria Pundit's site? No wonder no one can get a word in edgewise. Gimme a break.
If I had a babysitter... I might take you up on the visiting of high schools.
I would kind of like to check out Central, Richwoods, and Notre Dame as I have a son getting close to that age.
I'd say they are about 800 kids at Woodruff and my figure comes from a person who works there and actually counted. But then, over at Pekin High, where they have 2350 students, there is also approx. 35 girls pregnant. A different percentage to be sure but still troubling. It happens everywhere.
Diane, I am sorry, I should have emailed you with my troubles posting at Peoria Pundits. I didn't know it was co-owned.
Anonymous: Big Sister is watching you! She's everywhere...she's everywhere! LOL! I remember back when I was in high school (in 1886) there was a girl who got pregnant in her junior year. It was the OMG talk of the campus. We just couldn't believe it. 35 now? Wow times have certainly changed.
For the record, I have never moderated a comment at Billy's site beyond seeing it sitting in the cue and hitting approve. I don't think I'm even capable of doing more than that, other than publishing articles to his site. I believe that the anons who are suggesting that their comments are being muddled with are the same people that once made ridiculous claims their site was hacked and crashed by someone jealous of them. This is the last comment I'll make about this because it is very immature dialogue and obviously derails the conversation regarding safety in our schools.
Also, for the record, you are right PAP. We do pay our bills. We also pay our taxes. We are not a drain on the public welfare system. Our children are in bed every night by 8:00pm and at school on time every day. We both volunteer in the schools at various events. We watch out for our neighbors, take care of our parents, make charitable contributions on our tax returns, and have adopted international families, among other things. If that makes me worthy of your contempt, I'll take it.
C'mon Diane, it's not immature dialogue, just some levity in a serious situation. Now, I wonder with all that's going on in our schools how is anyone able to learn? How can any normal student function to his or her potential in this environment? I just don't get it...
Lancer: The answer is that they can't function to their full potential--the district owes them more and I honestly believe that Jeff and Hedy will provide the kind of union leadership needed. They will work as hard or harder to improve the school environment for kids as they will to represent teachers. If anyone doubts Jeff's sincerity in this matter, please allow me to set the record straight. Jeff graduated from Manual in 1990. When he returned in 1994 as a teacher, he couldn't believe how much the school had changed in such a short time. He and another new teacher (Don Glover, also a Manual grad) took risks that few non-tenured teachers are willing to make by speaking out and trying to get the administration to make changes in discipline policies (or how they were carried out). Their motto (totally ignored and scoffed at by administrators) was "action--consequences." I joined them; I didn't want them out on that limb by themselves. Jeff has never stopped--continued with trips to the superintendent's office, messages to the board, etc. And I can assure you that being the president of the union hadn't entered is mind--he was doing all this for no other reason than to restore the school to the one he had known as a student. The same holds true for Hedy (a Manual grad) who goes way beyond the call of duty as a teacher in the south end.
The preggers numbers don't surprise me at all. What else do you do when you don't have money to go to the movies or a decent place to hang out?? Plus there's all that abstinence education bullshit out there.
We had success with PTO meetings when we had door prizes at each meeting. The door prizes were easy because we always had samples that the fundraising guys gave us. I wonder what kind of turn out you'd get if a few $25 grocery store gift cards were given away (you can get gift certificates that can't be used on booze and smokes, too, OSF does it for employees at Christmas). Chances are, the grocery store would donate the cards, too.
Edicts from 'on high' will not get parents involved. Creativity, passion and empathy go a long way.
For the "record" I have been banned from Billy's blog probably because Diane Vespa was fired by my husband as our realtor.
" I believe that the anons who are suggesting that their comments are being muddled with are the same people that once made ridiculous claims their site was hacked and crashed by someone jealous of them."
No, Diane, none of 'those' people would ever post anonymously. How often do you, though?
Diane: I never said you and your husband never paid your bills, taxes , or whatever. What I implied was how many times have you had to sweat out a CILCO bill or forgo buying food because you had to pay something else? I have many times and I know a majority of the families that have kids in District 150 live that way also. I am sure you and yours do excellent work and are great parents. Wonderful! I never had a doubt, but it is tough on the other side of the tracks for some and yet, there are great parents there also. They just don't have the luxury of walking out when they want to.
Several pieces of B.S. need to be corrected here. I panned ONE specific person from my site three nights ago. After an email conversation, I unbanned this person.
Flam, you are NOT banned from my site at all. If you have problems posting or visiting, it's not on my end. If you made a comment that disappeared, email me and I ill try to find it.
Yeah, both Diane and Em have trouble getting past comment moderation. Em's comments often end up in the spam filter.
I cannot afford to turn off my spam filter, I sometimes get hundreds of spam comments a day.
Every time Em sends me an email saying one of his comments vanished, I look for it. Sometimes, I am at work and don't have access to my blog, so it takes time to track down Em's real comment.
The number of untruths being spread about my site's policies and operations are both stunning, and in a way, flattering.
I don't want to get into a battle over this because it really isn't that important, but I do still have a comment that is awaiting moderation and a second comment made later was moderated and is shown. Personally, I try very hard not to spread "untruths". To wit:
"Your comment is awaiting moderation.
February 15, 2009 at 2:27 pm
The Traveler is still locally owned, is it not?"
Ramble: I found three comments in the moderation file. One of them as yours. I approved this one and a 2nd comment. The third is in moderation at the author's request.
I apologize for the delay.
And yes, the Traveler IS a another locally owned newspaper. My mistake and I'll fix it ASAP.
And because I commented on here, Diane Vespa had to call my husband and tell him lies about me.
I should add...don't piss off Diane Vespa, she will call your house and threaten you with a lawsuit.
Wow!!! Just wow!!!
No wonder why the school system is all fucked up, the adults in the situation can't even get along. PAP can be a bit rough at times, but I think that's the intent. 35 girls? I AM surprised by that.
Those of you that haven't abandoned Peoria (I did, living in E Peoria, my kids aren't going to D150) better learn to get along and fix the problems pretty soon, or Peoria will be nothing more than a town full of drugs and violence. Good luck to you all.
OK Billy is right, everytime I have emailed him about a lost post of mine, he has found it and posted it. I guess it is because of the goofy user name of mine I use on his site, the spam filter seems to suck it up.
Well it's just a darn good thing you don't post anonymously, Randy. You'd be accused by Ms. Vespa of being associated with PeoriaSpeaks or worse yet, of being me or Reno. Tsk, tsk. It must be a burden to be so popular.
I think I know what caused it, Randy. Several months ago, while cleaning out spam, I inadvertently put several valid comments in the spam folder. Because the Akismet antispam plugin "learns," it decided your comments are spam. Now, I've "despammed" you dozens of times, but Akismet doesn't learn from THAT.
why do these cretins from peoria.neocon continue to drag me into their shit?
Vespa, keep your goddam animals in their cages, m'kay? Otherwise I'll be calling your house and threatening lawsuits. Ya dig?
Reno, do you realize now the next threat will be she will go to your boss and try to get you fired? Ahhh...too much time on somebody's hands---lmao
Yeah, not to mention a god complex.
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